Posted on 4/21/2009, 5:01:38 PM by BenLurkin
A grinding depression. Wild inflation. Endless unemployment ... How to deal with what could go very wrong.
So is this just a really, really bad year? Or the end of capitalism as we know it? These days it's all too easy to imagine almost anything happening to the economy. And to you.
You've probably already run the movie in your mind about the day you get the ax. Maybe you've even wondered if there's a point at which you'd just mail your house keys to the bank.
And then there's your portfolio. The words "great" and "depression" seem to be popping up together a lot more often. Is there something you should be doing? Like selling your stocks and burying cash and gold bars in the backyard?
Time to get a grip — not by ignoring the worst possibilities but by facing them head-on. Here, then, are answers to six ridiculously scary (but certainly not ridiculous) questions posed by today's economy.
Should I Prepare My Portfolio for a New Depression?
What if High Inflation Makes a Comeback?
Banks, Insurers, and Investment Firms Are All in Trouble. How Safe Are My Assets?
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Women and children hit hardest?
They'll be worth their weight in gold some day.
Doomsday investing:
http://www.vicefund.com/vicefund/abt.aspx
The very last thing people will give up in a Depression will be their smokes, their liquor and their gambling.
And when they do, you’ll have all the cash. (Which might also not be worth anything, LOL!) :)
Rice. Beans. Water. Dry socks. Lead. Gold.
Done and done. :)
I can only hope this is the case, as I'd love to see this farce end and real capitalism return.
None of this latest economic disaster would have happened if it weren't for uncapitalistic requirements that forced banks to make bad loans. That the banks sought some way of sharing the pain is understandable, that it was abused is to be expected.
But all that is being learned at the end is that you can do totally idiotic and stupid things, and you'll be covered. All these companies who lied or turned the other way as their customers outright lied aren't feeling any pain, aren't being forced to pay back their outright theft. They get to keep their profits, their salaries, their bonuses. Those who lied to get loans mostly have kept their loans, or protected by bankruptcy from having to pay for their crimes.
No one's guilty, free money is raining down, and those who played by the rules are being shafted left and right as companies are being forced out of business, capital is being restricted, and yes, bad loans are still being made. Just today, I saw a sign in front of a building, offering condos with just a couple percent down, interest only loans.
When these companies are held accountable, when investors need to look at these books and see the actions of the companies they're invested in, and how much of a gamble they're playing, and when executives know that if they do pull a fast one, they'll end up paying for it in the end - that's when capitalism will return.
We live in ‘Tornado Country’ (it’s Tornado Awareness Week; big drills coming up for us all) and ‘Blizzard Country.’ No one around here lives without a stash of useful stuff in their basement or storm cellar. :)
TP.
A luxury in time of crisis, to be sure. :)
So what are the best investments to survive the inevitable zombie invasion?
We were, thank God, following the Dave Ramsey plan to pay off all our debts and had said a short prayer "Lord, if Debt is like sin, please free us". Little did I know the answer that would come.
All debt beside the mortgage had been delt with and my last daughters college payment was paid for, so we were attacking the mortgage with a vengence. The layoff hit April of last year. At first, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when my manager called and said "You've been let go"
That summer was full of depression as I quickly found out that online resume submittal was a bust. Not one interview email out of hundreds submitted. Only a few saying "Sorry"; it was a wasteland.
Then in September, the severance came and because we had been very frugal, it was enough to pay off the house. The wife's job covered us well and provided medical insurance; so we went for it.
The depression vanished and in another month I got a job; not as good as the last, but enough to start doing needed home repairs.
All I can say is "Thank God for Dave Ramsey". We've been unable to do the screem, so I am doing it here:
1, 2, 3 WERE DEBT FREE!!! Wheee!!!
How are you with sharing?
Dave says "Payed off Real Estate", because houses go up during inflation periods.
Inflation is comming. Get your wheelbarrow ready to carry the worthless paper around.
I stopped reading right here.
Very true. My Mom had to use crumpled newspaper. She showed me how to rub it together to make it soft;) Really
What I’d really like to see is an in-depth discussion of how to prepare oneself for the coming hyperinflation (beyond the normal buy/horde gold/silver issue).
Hyper-inflation is a pipedream fantasy for massive debt-owers who have no other real shot at paying off what they owe.
Won’t happen.
Good for an outhouse. Very bad for a septic system. Could necessitate a call to Roto-Rooter if on an urban sewage system. OTOH, I have been in places where you find signs telling you not to put even TP in the toilet. A covered can with a bag inside is provided next to the toilet. An old hippie friend has admitted to picking and storing burdock leaves for that purpose back in his commune days. You do what you must.
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